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The flower embroidery days

2017/05/19

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Flowers, oh flowers. I have long avoided embroidering you, but in the end, you’ve got me still. I’m kind of in a love-hate relationship with flowers in embroidery. It’s by far the most stitched motif – and it’s by far the most stitched motif. Wait, what? Flower embroidery is lovely and very simple to stitch. They look great with everything. BUT they also have the reputation of being too old-fashioned (especially in embroidery!) and antiquated or even worse are a symbol of the “oppressed housewife”.

Flower embroidery in modern times

Luckily flowers are receiving attention by many modern embroiderers who are showing new twists on this evergreen motif. By now it’s almost impossible to NOT see something with flowers on it and finally, finally, flowers got me, too.

When I was a kid I spent hours in my grandma’s garden picking flowers. She lives in the mountains and there are growing many plants that simply did not grow in Berlin where I was living back then. When you are little, you see all the details – tiny petals, slight color differences between each blossom, the ones hiding in the shadows and the one rambling up to get even more sunlight in their fragrant faces.

Looking back I realize how this joy of the small details – this observation of things regardless of size or importance – is dwindling the older I get. So much distraction, so much to overlook, so much important stuff, that it’s hard to hit pause and just take a look without an agenda in your back.

What flowers teach us

And that is exactly what flowers teach us. Each blossom blooms for a very short moment. If you miss it – it is gone. We can preserve it for winter times by drying, pressing or photographing them, but the essence of the flower is to be seen when it is alive, fragrant and radiating with all the sunlight it absorbed. Right now it is May, the month of roses and bloom. I invite you to go on a trip through your garden, your neighborhood, your garden center, take a deep breath and j-u-s-t look around. Let this moment sink into you. You do not need to do something with it, just absorb their presence and the moment.

The flower embroidery days

For the next 5 days, I will present you 5 stitches to use for your flower embroidery. Each day comes another method to create a certain flower look and provides some sample shapes of flowers, so you can start right away and try it out!

This is the flower embroidery curriculum:

For the time until tomorrow, I invite you to the Flower Embroidery Enthusiasts Board over at Pinterest! If you love flower embroidery it’s a good place to start and get inspiration. It’s a group board so contact me if you would like to add your creations, too!